1 GENE WIL Laughing all the way to the 23rd Making a difference LONDON'S THEATRE CRITI Are they going soft? PIUS SAVE £££ on your theatre tickets ,~~ 1~~EGm~ Gf1ll~ G~rick ~he ~ ~ e,London f F~[[ IIC~[I with ever~ full price ticket purchased ~t £23.50 Phone 0171-312 1991 9 771364 763009 Editor's Letter 'ThFl rul )U -; lmalid' was a phrase coined by the playwright and humourl:'t G eorge S. Kaufman to describe the ailing but always ~t:"o lh e m Broadway Theatre in the late 1930' s . " \\ . ;t" )ur ul\'n 'fabulous invalid' - the West End - seems in danger of 'e:' .m :: Lw er from lack of nourishmem, let' s hope that, like Broadway - presently in re . \ ,'1 'n - it too is resilient enough to make a comple te recovery and confound the r .: i " \\' ho accuse it of being an en vironmenta lly no-go area whose theatrical x ;'lrJ io n" refuse to stretch beyond tired reviva ls and boulevard bon-bons. I i, clUite true that the season just past has hardly been a vintage one. And while there is no question that the subsidised sector attracts new plays that, =5 'ears ago would a lmost certainly have found their way o nto Shaftes bury Avenue, l ere is, I am convinced, enough vitality and ingenuity left amo ng London's main -s tream producers to confirm that reports of the West End's te rminal dec line ;:m: greatly exaggerated. I have been a profeSSi onal reviewer long enough to appreciate the cyclical nature of the business. This year's disasters ( and yes, there have been a succession of them!) could be next year's triumphs. With the optimistic belief that o ur 'fabulous invalid' will make a complete recovery, I welco me readers to Applause, an exciting new magazine devoted to the li veliest art. Our intention is no t only to provide theatregoers with informed com­ ment, interviews, features, reviews, and gossip about the pl ays and players making news in bo th Londo n and New York, but also, each mo nth, to carry eight pages of unbeatable, money-saving offers to top West End shows and events. The package, which reflects our fa ith in the continuing survival of the West End, is, I believe, an irresistible o ne. CliVE HIR SC HHOR N Cli ve Hi rschhorn was bom and educated in SOl,th Africa . He has been a pop-columnist for Th e Daily Ma il . (, story edilOr for ABC TV (now T ha mes TV ) and from 1966 co},,' )' 1996 theatre eTHi c and feature writer for th e Sunday Express . He is presently that pa per's opcm cmic _He is the theatre corres ponde nt an d critic for LBC radio and the London theatre critic for Th eatenveel<In New Yorl< _He has also "oltten extensively on film s and his /I n(J ks incl ude: Gene Kelly, The Authorised Biography, The Films Of James Mason, The Warn er Bros Story. The Holl ywood Musica l, The Uni versal Story, and The Columbia Story. a1rlause------­ THE rplA'l~t BUILDI NG 6 8 lON G AC :t LON DO we 2E QJ O :L_,ISHtD BY AP'l"USE LTD - M AN AG G DI EdO ?'IUI BI N ETT =C,TOR ':1 VE hIRS2HHOk N THEA [ P OOK , GS ~_' ,'-' - =_ ~ DAVi D DO EGAN LOI D N 0 17 1 312 19'11 ~. - ~ ' E :-c) f ~ EF..'Y SESSIO h.S EVE N TS ~OO < INGS • .: '-SHtEY r-IE RV', ~ I ' J ST ALBA N S 01 727 8 J I I 15 ISSN 1364 ·7636 l\ pplamc we lc o m ~' .\ 11 11 ~ o tic . ! .-d malluscnp f ~ and pnmQgT(l/lh., ~ ! II ((mllOI b..? ~ ld T(,:, f1l1IlSible rOTan)' to.,s or auma&<' . :~JTO~ Al All mfvnnllli(J n cOlllained In Apl'h.lI s~ mn,ga ~ i l\ .:' is to Ihe Hl:"HO', E ~ 171 -'1 2 3ClS , /,," ( (]) f)I(T k nli ll ' kil~ anJ hitl e( (Orr.),,", m cite IlnlC of f ~ X G' 7 I 3 ' 2 8 OG0 ~n~ LV P'IQ.-\ The nell 't expre.s:.ea in ' ru~ magazine (1ft' 111' 1 nf ( a ~~ urlh rhu ~~ ui [hc' u!ilfIT or i'!IItJrshI! T. AOVOTI . II'-- G DI STRIB UTIO N BY, COMAG SPE Ci ALIST DIVIS ION. TEIEPHO " IE 0 7 3 I 2 8~ 7 Q MERCURY CENTRE . CENTRAL WAY. fElTHAM. f,, <01 713 1, 80Q'1 MIDDLESEX TW I A ORX TELEPH ON E 0 181 8AA 1000 OCT':.J~k 1'-!96 APPLAUSE 3 DUKE OF YORK'S I'HEAI'RE Sf MARTI N'S LANE, WC1N 4BG contents 7 OFFSTAGE News and gossip fro m the West End 8 KILLING WITH KINDNESS Moll Wolf asks if london's theotre critics ore too soft 10 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST :: _ " ~.J t < Beast The biggest thing ever to hit the West End , Hal Lewis looks at Disney's ve nture into Theatreland 12 HEATHCLIFF Cliff Richard has been weathering o storm of cri ticism · C hristopher Tookey assesses the situat ion 17 ONSTAGE Clive Hirschhorn reviews some of the latest openings 22 NED SHERRIN The musings of a w it w-.a !:Jconteur Heathcliff 23 APPLAUSE THEATRE CLUB Great savings on many top West End shows 32 INTERVIEW Comic actor Gene leer in Gene Wilder conversation with Ronald Bergan 36 DICK VOSBURGH Tracks down the lost Musicols 38 LONDON'S THEATRES Ronald Bergan looks at the rebuilt Globe Theotre 40 PEOPLE WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE Alan Ayckborn hos mode one of the Single greotest co tri ulions to Bri ti sh thea tre. He speaks to Clore Colvin 44 SPECTRUM A look ot the 'other ' orts 46 CD REVIEW Tom Vallance has been comparing the various recordings of Sondheim's 'Company' Akm Ayckboum 47 BOOK REVIEW 'Speok low' is a collection of the lellers from Ku rt Weill to Lolle lenyo. ~LO.". W' "~. Reviewed by Ronald Bergan .. :::" 01 '#p ... " ~ . NED SHERRIN ~ 48 Extracts from hi s book. 'Theatrical Anecdotes' 49 OFFSTAGE BROADWAY Book review More news and gOSS ip, from America's theatre capitol 50 SHOWS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE Ke n Livingstone and the show that leM a lasting impression OCTOBER 1996 APPLAUSE 5 SPOTLIGHT ON A~ EXCELLENCE. Lloyds Private Banking's commitment [0 supporting the writers who bring Britain's theatre [0 life will continue with our sponsorship of the Playwright of the Year Award. The prize of £25,000 will be given [0 the most talented playwright whose work has been first performed during the year. For further deta ils, p lease contact David Maguire, Lloyds Private Banking Limited, 1-5 Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3SP. Telepho ne (01444) 418407. ~ LAY WR1G 'tIT OF THE YE AR Ll oyds Priv" ,e Banki ng Li mited, 71 Lo mbard Street, Londo n, Ee3!' 3BS. Lloyds PrJva ,e Banking is regu lated by IM RO. The Young Vic Company presents Bood Wedd ing by Federico Garcia Lorca In a new version by Ted Hughes On the harsh dry plains of southern Europe, a bride's heart lays waste to her weddin9 ... ... in the cold deep forest, the Moon herself 9uides the blooded bride9room's hand Lorca's play, Blood Weddin9, was inspired by a newspaper account of a real life story, and is presented in a brilliant new version by Ted Hughes. Performances Evenings : Friday 20 Sept to Saturday 2 Nov, 7. 30pm APPLAUSI tlCltl' 0'''· Malinees: Saturday 26 Oct & Sa turday 2 Nov, 2.30pm Monday-fr,day, 7.30pm 0 The Young Vic Thealre is at 66 The Cut, Waterloo, Lo ndo n SE 1 £ \ Afull Price ticket, lor l' five minutes walk from Waterloo (Bus, Tube and Roil) CAll0111 312. 1991 O't) stage ~ ;: .'L Y ,, 0L-\.\IOROUS NIG HT in (he Wes( End? Daniel J Travanti, the large ly forgo((en star of him, as rhe sc ript demands she must. The h-. r ~ o \'ello's hi( musical from 1935 is finall y Hill Street Blues, suddenly found himself same error of judgo1ent befell the Broadway -<':n .! i\·en a major WeS( End revival m (he starring in a West End show. However, production, where Marrin Short (in the ~ 1\",0\" nex( Spring. The musical (har halfway through the show's run Travanti Dreyfuss role) made co-star Bernade((e Perers launched Novello's career has been neglected suffered the ac tor's nightmare of forgening his look like an ungrareful kvetch when surely it ;Lf so long pardy because the srory involves lines. The curtain duly came down, and when should be rhe opposite way round. Still, 1'01 ' he head of radio paying the invenror of a few minutes larer it went up again, his assured rhar rhe London version, produced by : el ~ \'i s i on (0 disappear and rake his magic box understudy had raken over. All would have E&B Productions (who gave you ]olson) and \\I(h him. Consequendy, David Christie h as been fine and dandy if the stand-in hadn't directed by Rob Be((inson, will be very dif­ reen charged with reworking the musical (0 already appeared in a different role, fazing nor ferent from the show rhat fl opped on suir the 1990s but its hard (0 imagine what only the whole audience but one of the Broadway, with new songs by Hamlisch, new contemporary plot device he's go ing (0 plump acrresses, who consequendy forgot all her choreography by Tudor Davies and a new set for - a h and le manufacturer paying off the lines as well.